


correspondence ends here

by inquisitor_tohru



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Correspondence, F/M, Gen, Long-Distance Relationship, Parenthood, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22118125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/pseuds/inquisitor_tohru
Summary: Indumati has never met her daughter. That doesn't mean she doesn't care.
Relationships: Robert Holcomb/Indumati
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: The City and the Stars 2019





	correspondence ends here

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ziskandra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziskandra/gifts).



**To** : Indumati Bakshi

**From:** Robert Holcomb

**Subject:** Migration of can components

Thank the Law for you and your detective work! One of so many reasons you are missed in the Vale…

Once the migration issues were recognised, we managed to retrieve at least fifteen percent of the spoiled Saltuna, and are now looking into alternative canning methods. Of course, we'll have to clear it with Tobson, but somehow I doubt he could put a positive spin on lead poisoning.

My very best wishes,

Robert

P.S. I thought you might appreciate this photograph of Parvati hard at work in the cannery. I'm sorry for not sending anything sooner.

[Attachment: a photograph of a girl with a coppery complexion and dark brown curls]

**To** : Robert Holcomb

**From:** Indumati Bakshi

**Subject:** Re: Migration of can components

You're welcome. I promise not to take advantage of your eternal gratitude (much). I hope implementing the new canning methods doesn't create too much extra work for you.

Best,

Indumati

P.S. Such bright eyes and clever hands! From you, no doubt. I wish I could hold them. Yours, too.

P.P.S. As competent as I'm sure Parvati is, please urge Tobson to bring in some more engineers. You're already BEYOND overworked.

**To** : Indumati Bakshi

**From:** Robert Holcomb

**Subject:** Re: Re: Migration of can components

Are we talking about the same Reed Tobson? In any case, please don't worry. While Parvati is extremely capable, she's not yet assigned full-time Spacer's Choice hours (she only works 10-hour days).

P.S. I wish for that, too, with all my heart.

**To** : Robert Holcomb

**From:** Indumati Bakshi

**Subject:** Re: Re: Re: Migration of can components

I suppose that's reasonable. Gives her a small opportunity to "taste the freedom" while she still can. Just remember to take care of yourself as well, love.  
  


[Correspondence ends here]

***

Indumati tensed at the mention of Edgewater. Whenever management mentioned the place, something seemed to be going wrong, whether it was with the Saltuna, the cannery itself or monsters nesting on the outskirts of the town, rather too close for comfort. Things had already started going downhill during her time there, and now it sounded as if Edgewater was on the brink of a crisis. The last she'd heard, a number of workers had deserted their posts - some kind of altercation with Tobson, evidently - and set up camp in the Botanical Lab. It was smart. She would have liked to believe Robert and Parvati had joined them, but Indumati was not an optimistic woman. She was a realist. And she hadn't heard from Robert in a long, long time.

"Nothing from Tobson?" The taller man sighed and shrugged.

"It's like the entire town's gone off the grid." Indumati busied her hands with her work, if not her mind. Management didn't like eavesdropping (unless said eavesdropping was for their benefit, of course).

"The boss is getting antsy. Talking about getting the _Board_ involved."

"No way. She wouldn't want to deal with all that paperwork." Shit, this didn't sound good. She'd have to ask around, see if anyone else had heard anything. A few of the workers here had family in Edgewater. Someone had to know _something_.

***

Three weeks later Indumati reached beneath her bed, dragging her already packed bag across the floorboards.

Over the course of those three weeks, everything had gone to shit.

First of all, Edgewater's power had been diverted to the Botanical Lab. There were rumours of someone claiming to be a colonist from the Hope, or a dashing pirate captain, depending on who you asked, and their alleged involvement in the situation. It was bizarre, but nowhere near as bizarre as what happened next.

Not only did they break _into_ Tartarus, but they got _out_. Since then, the corporations were in disarray. The CEOs had gone awol, and the Board wasn't responding to communications. Indumati was not the only one to take the opportunity to slip away amongst the chaos.

She travelled with a young woman called Harriet, who must have been around Parvati's age, who didn't have any connections to Edgewater but wanted to see the community the deserters had made for themselves at the Botanical Lab. Idealistic, and a little naïve, but she was decent company on the road, and willing to share a bottle of Spectrum Vodka she'd acquired somewhere along the way. Plus, she was handy with a rifle. Indumati hoped Robert had found the time to teach Parvati how to shoot. She'd always been the better shot, but Robert's shooting skills were perfectly adequate.

Oh, _Robert_ . She'd all but given up hope on seeing him again. It had been too long since his last message. It wasn't like him to cease all communication without a reason and, unfortunately, she could only think of one. At first she wondered if he married, but it was doubtful - not because he wasn't a desirable husband, but because marriage licenses were too damn expensive. Besides, even if he had found someone else (and _part_ of her hoped he had, because he deserved happiness), she was still Parvarti's mother. Nothing would change that. Not even the fact that their Spacer's Choice "family" had kept her from raising her.

And with Halcyon plunged into chaos and uncertainty, maybe, just _maybe_ , Indumati could find her daughter and begin to make amends. As long as she and Parvati lived, and found one another, Robert would live on with them.

***

_"The Groundbreaker?"_

"Last I heard," the engineer repeated. Indumati pinched the bridge of her nose. Harriet was set on staying at the Botanical Lab, and even if she was happy for Indumati to take the ship, she didn't have enough fuel for an offworld trip.

"You might be in luck though," he added, jerking his head towards the pile of scrap she'd noticed earlier. "Felix is headed that way once he finishes fixing up...whatever that is he's fixing up." Indumati squinted at the short, dark haired man working on a sheet of aluminium.

"Looks like...a model ship?"

"Could be. You never know with him." She had some money and trade - not enough to fuel her own ship, but if this young man was open to offering her passage for a fee, well, it was a possibility she was willing to consider. She smiled and thanked the engineer.

"Guess it's time Felix and I had a chat." He flashed her a crooked grin as she approached, putting down his tools and setting aside his metalwork. Up close it looked more like an insect.

"Heard Thomas say you might be headed to the Groundbreaker."

"Uh-huh. Sounds like my daughter might be there. I can pay."

"Yeah? If she is I might know her." Indumati raised an eyebrow. This guy didn't exactly look like a social butterfly, but then looks _could_ be deceiving. "I grew up there," he explained.

"I doubt it, she's from Edgewater - she can't have been there long. But her name's Parvati. Parvati Holcomb." Felix grinned even wider.

"It's Tennyson now."

"Excuse me?"

"Parvati Tennyson." Indumati's heart swelled. _Parvati Tennyson._ Felix gestured towards his ship. "Ready when you are, ma'am. And don't worry about paying, just, I don't know...buy me a drink in the Lost Hope?"

"Sure. I'll get my things." Finally, _finally,_ she was going to meet the daughter whose hands she'd longed to hold for all those years. And she was married! Perhaps they'd all have a drink in the Lost Hope. Share stories about Robert.

She hoped they had Sapphire Wine. It always was his favourite.


End file.
